Heretics

Index

In Our Own Words

"It has never been proven that Chaos cultists are anything more than the product of the fevered imaginings of certain of the more zealous Witch Hunters. Why they have to go on and on about 'corruption from within' and 'debased orgiastic sects of the Lord of Pleasure' when the real danger is the Marauders of the north, I'll never know. I ask you, what motivation could these successful merchants, nobles, and scholars have for allying with Chaos, when they already hold positions of such eminence within the Empire? It would be like a queen bee poisoning her own hive."

— Albrecht Kinear, Professor Emeritus at the University of Nuln, speaking at a commission to advise the Elector Count of Nuln on the threat of Chaos

"What man of Miklgardr has ever paid a toll to sail the seas? We are pirates. We are Norscan. We are the wolves of the sea, and everything in the sea is our prey. You are our prey."

— Dalla Ulfarsdottir, Norse Shieldmaiden

"What choice did I have? I would be a loyal son of the Empire yet, had my hand not begun to change. I did nothing to make it occur. I read no proscribed books. I learned no profane rituals. I followed by teachers' instructions to the letter, and still I changed. Could I go to my professors and tell them my plight? Could I ask for mercy at the Temple of Sigmar? No. The only mercy the Empire gives its twisted children is the axe. What could I do? I wanted to live. I did not want my great mind to go to waste merely because one of my limbs had betrayed me."

— Magus Lichtmann, Warlock Engineer

"Is it so wrong to want to be on the winning side? Year by year the Beastmen grow bolder and the Marauders stronger. Year by year there are more Mutants, and worse, within the borders of the Empire. The Emperor is fighting a losing battle. I am a pragmatist first and foremost; the Empire has made me rich, but Chaos will help me to survive when Middenheim is in flames and its people are food for Beastmen or sacrifices to the Blood God. Survive and even prosper. The Master of Fortune is good to those who revere him."

"Horrified at the fate of their companion, the remaining adventurers chastised the daemon, who replied that they should simply be more specific in their wish-making."

— Mishka Levkov, Tomb Robber

"As for the infant, it might grow up more quickly than an ordinary child. Some of them do. Anyway, altering folk is worthwhile for its own sake. You might even say it's a sacrement."

— 'Mama' Solveig Weiss, Healer, Midwife & Heretic

Scholar's View

"There was a time, before your affliction, when you knew quite a bit about everyone in Miragliano. But perhaps the rot has crawled into your brain as well as your hand."

— Brunner the Bounty Hunter

"He who is touched by Chaos, may harm Chaos... but must always beware, lest he become the instrument of Chaos instead of its destroyer."

— Astyanax, Tilean Enchanter

"Kill the corrupted. They're beyond saving. Do it now, or we all die!"

— Jakob Wolff, Warrior-Priest of Sigmar

"This symbol is agony to you. Much more than the burning. For such as you, the very presence of holiness is pain. You deserve nothing less."

— Annika Bohringer, Witch Hunter

"The cults of our blessed Empire often act as frightened vengeful children, squabbling amongst themselves. Yet, we forget that while we fight each other, the forces of Chaos and its minions wait to take us all by surprise."

— Avemar Teinhoff of Carroburg, Celestial Magister of the Celestial Order

"Whatever has put the taint on them, their fate is still the same. Heretics burn."

— Inquisitor Gualtiero Bocca, Solkanite War-priest

"You have tormented me more than you know with your elaborate account of these forces of Chaos which threaten the world in so many different ways, and to which my own brother sold his soul."

"Albrecht Kinear, former Professor of the University of Nuln, this court finds you guilty of trafficking with Daemons amd selling your soul to Chaos. You profaned the high office and renown with which you were entrusted when you joined the Silver Wheel society here in Nuln, and you compounded our damnation when you steeped yourself so thoroughly in its dark and sorcerous teachings as to be made its leader. Your already unforgiveable crimes are made still worse by your continual deliberate misdirection of legitimate authority with your false pronouncements on Chaos and many another matter. Gunther, Hans—take him outside and burn him. Now."

— Vorster Pike, Witch Hunter, speaking at the commission to advise the Elector of Nuln on the threat of ChaosAlbrecht of Nuln, was burned at the stake 1301 IC for pernicious declamation.

"There are gods of wrath and horror, whose domain in growing in the world of men. The cause is terror, for when men see evil in the world, and fear it will claim them, their courage often fails, and they try to placate the force of evil instead of standing against them."

— Orfeo, Bretonnian Minstrel, recounting a warning of the Chaos threat ministered by the Morrian Father Superior of the Border Princedom of Aldium, in the Khyprian empire

"They have raped and pillaged the coasts of the Old World for centuries, putting towns and temples alike to the sword. They are a treacherous people, brother. Daemon-ridden and corrupt. They bathe in foetid pools that glow in night, and make offerings to twisted idols. They venerate the mutant, the beastman and the marauder. They are not worthy of your blood or your sacrifice."

When death falls upon the Free City of Marienburg, fractious citizens witness the exploits of apocalypse. The End Times have come. Renegade personalities clash in a fight for survival. In a city shattered and leaderless, rival outfits face off to stake their claim on Marienburg. Rich thieves in a safe place became dead men on a long rope.

For this years 5th annual Mordheim battle day it was originally my intention for the player's warbands to fight in a united front against a Plague Fleet spearheaded by the brothers Glött. Inevitably realising plan A* couldn't be orchestrated without a Nurgle general volunteering to lead a few thousand points worth of Chaos despoilers through my decaying port-cityscape we resorted to plan B.

The back up plan discussed with my conspirators Dan and Chris was to entertain ourselves with a series of two player battles by starting off with new warband lists. Veterans of our campaign have been playing the same gangs on and off for the last four years. The consensus was that most of us prefer to start afresh for this get together. With a bunch of new recruits joining rusty veterans for the weekend, I devised a simple map-based system of area control broken down into districts and boroughs.

Each of 16 wards or ghettos was represented with a different scenario and the players could agree between themselves which ones they wished to play, or randomise a scenario if they failed to agree, then move on to face another opponent based on current whereabouts on the Great Map.

A crude tagging system was employed to mark out victories with coloured spots determining which warbands were asserting their dominance over the city.

All of the games were staged in the loft flat my girlfriend and I have moved into. We've been lucky enough to find a place with adequate space in the spare room for my Marienburg table to be set up full-time. Yet as I write this a good chunk of my terrain collection is currently boxed up as I've just returned from another weekend event with the Oldhammer community! It's been a busy month for Mordheim activity and this years battle day featured 10 players.

Witch Hunter General Dave made a brief guest appearance during the course of Saturday to say hi to the group. Another new face to Bournemouth Mordheimers was Kawe Weissi-Zadeh who visited during set up week with his goblins, trolls and some unreleased halflings. Kawe ended up missing the battles due to work commitments so we are planning another night for some games soon with a smaller group.

João and Bob grabbed some super snaps of the action through the day. My own photography featured here occasionally is not the best. João shot some excellent pics of the main Marienburg table terrain in my spare room. He was able to capture over 200 shots at Oldhammer Weekend whilst I was running participation games of Mordheim.

In addition to the main 6'x4' table, a second table 4'x4' was prepared in the living room by draping a Dreadfleet seascape mat across my (large enough to do this) coffee table to represent the Reiksmouth Estuary. With the excess terrain being supplied by João we had more than enough to create 10' worth of tabletop across the two boards.

Additionally the dining table was used to play Mordheim Quest games in the Marienburg sewer network with the 'Border Town Collapsing' scenario plus four tavern brawls were fought using the scenario 'Last Orders!'

Some time was spent drawing up warband lists on Friday evening. Most of the games took place on Saturday beginning in the morning and finishing quite late as has become tradition. Some of the survivors who arrived late on Saturday reconvened on Sunday for a couple more games. As the sound of battle died down it was clear that the most successful outfits had been the Dark Elf Corsairs, Skaven Warp-Engineers and Fimir Ambushers.

Everybody attending the get together brought something unique of their own making to the exploratory return to the City of Islands & Bridges. In the case of Enys and Dan that meant a supply of mead, for Michelle two tins of baked banana bread cakes, and Chris rocked up with his deadly concoction of home-brewed stout.

João took the opportunity to limber up his camera skills in preparation for the Oldhammer Weekend which the two of us had booked in for at Stoke Hall in Newark, the home of Wargames Foundry owned by 'The Mighty Avenger' Bryan Ansell. I took this opportunity to familiarise myself with Marienburg terrain to help select the best scenarios to go on the road with up to Nottinghamshire for the annual Oldhammer community event 'Bring Out Your Lead' (BOYL) III.

Although we did not get around to playing through all of the scenarios, there were some firm favourites seeing repeat play throughout Saturday. Our newest guests took the liberty of making the most of the abundance of scenery conjured up by João Sousa, Carl Merrell and I. We also made use of some new ships that Chris & I have been constructing in the hope of taking the waterfront actions beyond the limits of Fisherman's Steps, Oyster Dock and Candle Wharf. Boarding actions and danger chasing false beacons in the Reiksmouth Estuary beckons.

There was the usual spate of post battle scrambling about for desirable rare items. We kept the amount of visits to special Marketplace locations to a minimum, yet thanks to the Wasteland Exploration tables there were still some unexpected visits to the Infamous Haunts found in seedier corners of the city-port! Skaven and Fimir Heroes jostled over wyrdstone shards (1 in 6 chance of finding tainted treasures) to take to the Alchemist and the amphibious Fimm nobles felt the touch of Chaos upon them more than once. Speaking of Warp-touch rolls, we took a break from the tabletop for dinner and discovered the taint of wyrdstone upon a menu board in one of the local fast food restaurants on Charminster High Street! Another recommendation for the Infamous Haunts chapter.

The cramped streets and docks of Marienburg caused the usual amount of cursing from Phil as he led his Maneaters through the Old Money Ward for perhaps the final time. The ogres faired well enough beneath the Dead Canal on a smuggling run through the sewer network.

The lascars of Crime-lord Salaman Singh were once again absent as the Pirate-King's usual warband commander Stu Webb had chosen to lead a crew of Dark Elf Corsairs down the Reik onto Marienburg's South Dock.

Despite the absence of lockstocked holy templars with their smoking flintlock barrels we enjoyed the divine presence of Sigmar in the feminine form of an orderly visitation by Sisters of Sigmar. Our new pilgrim on the dock Enys led the ladies in a fervent charge across seaweed-strewn cobblestones to liberate orphans. Waterfront witches or heroines with halos, the Sigmarites faced the Lords of the Marsh with all their zeal.

Despite being bitch-slapped in an opening encounter by swampbound monsters they bounced back with proud posture. Righteousness prevailed in the rolling fog as the united sisterhood held their ground while craven fiends clawed at their buxom forms.

The Marienburg Secretariat repelled an assault from drunken barbarians across Powder Bridge at great cost.

River watchmen were plunged like sinking torpedoes into the Poultice Water yet with enough reinforcements the law fought hard enough to press the hoary heathens back as far as Norse Town.

The Reiksmouth Estuary ran thick with blood. An recurring aquatic menace threatened civilians each time that an eerie mist descended upon the port.

From the relative safety of priestess-blessed skiffs the fallen Sisters find they are less welcome sailing the canals than they had imagined in Manannshaven as they disembark for Temple District on their pilgrimage.

Lords and ladies. Marsh daemons biting off as much as they can chew in the shape of whip-toting she-devils. Well that's what Witch Hunter General Dave would call those feisty matriarchs.

Wharf rats slumming it down on Sour Dock. Strigany gypsies will take any kind of work. They won't do it honestly because of shadowy traditions they can never escape from. The past has a habit of catching up with river pirates! They won't be the first crew of cut-throats to dance from a gibbet in Marienburg. As the End Times approach they could well be the last!

There are some enormous vermin reported to be infesting the city. This one must have sat on a warpstone slab!

Sigmar's Solace provides safe haven for the least favourable priesthood in Marienburg. The God-King was never popular in the City of Secret Deals. Worship of Handrich is a perpetual state and the following of Stromfels rise with the tide.

What everyone wants to see right now. More pictures taken by João. Enjoy the scenery! There will be more of it in our report of Oldhammer 2015 weekend.

Too few heroes have survived the End Times! All of the file links from my public folder have been rendered obsolete by the new Dropbox management system. For the time being at least the best place to discuss Marienburg adventures and seek file sharing is through our spiritual sanctuary Tom's Boring Mordheim Forum.